Chapter 12 - The Cracks in the Glass
Khloe Cole stood at the head of a massive glass conference table.
She was looking at a disastrous quarterly projection.
For the first time in two years, her hands felt cold.
“Explain this to me,” Khloe demanded, her voice razor-sharp.
Her chief operating officer nervously shuffled a stack of papers.
“It’s the Lily Tower, Ms. Cole.”
“The structural steel shipments from Ohio have been delayed by six weeks.”
“The city inexplicably revoked our zoning variance for the underground parking.”
“And this morning, the electrical union threatened a wildcat strike.”
Khloe narrowed her eyes.
“All in the same week?”
“It seems like a string of incredibly bad luck,” the COO muttered, sweating under her gaze.
“I don't believe in bad luck,” Khloe said softly.
She leaned over the table, analyzing the reports.
Before marrying Richard, she had been an architectural draftsman.
She knew how buildings went up.
And she knew exactly how they were taken down.
These weren't random delays.
They were targeted, surgical strikes against the project's critical path.
Someone was orchestrating this.
She dismissed her executive team with a wave of her hand.
“Leave the files. Everyone out.”
Once the room was empty, Khloe walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
She looked out at the construction site of the Lily Tower in the distance.
Cranes stood frozen against the sky.
The site was completely silent.
It was costing her three hundred thousand dollars a day to keep it idle.
She picked up her phone and dialed the only number she trusted unconditionally.
“Harry.”
Harrison answered on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?”
He could always hear the slight shift in her tone.
“Someone is bleeding the Lily project,” Khloe said, her voice steady but dangerous.
“Steel delays. Union threats. Phantom permit issues.”
Harrison was silent for three seconds.
“That is Richard’s old playbook.”
“Exactly,” Khloe replied.
“He’s in federal lockup, Harry.”
“How is he doing this?”
“He isn't doing it himself,” Harrison deduced instantly.
“He hired a ghost.”
“Can you find out who?”
“Give me twenty-four hours,” Harrison promised.
“In the meantime, what do I do about the steel?” Khloe asked.
A dark, familiar chuckle echoed through the phone.
“You are Khloe Cole,” Harrison said.
“You don't beg for steel.”
“You buy the mill.”
Khloe smiled, the cold panic completely vanishing.
May you like
She hung up the phone and opened her laptop.
It was time to remind everyone exactly who they were dealing with.
